Ideas for Hiding an Exterior Brick Wall

Mariah Elaine

There are several ways to hide an exterior brick wall that's become unsightly because of damage, stains or discoloration, or if you simply desire a change. There are inexpensive options for covering the wall that are relatively easy to remove at a later date, along with more-expensive choices for a permanent covering. However you choose to hide the wall, keep the surrounding structures and landscaping in mind, so that any new additions fit in well with the old.

A living, evergreen screen is one way to hide your brick wall year-round.

Climbing Vines

Planting vines next to your brick wall and training them to climb the bricks will cover and hide the wall over time, and with little expense. Evergreen vines such as English ivy or Algerian ivy secure themselves to the wall via clasping roots, providing a living, year-round cover over the bricks. The ivy, however, can spread to areas you don't want covered, so it's important to maintain it with regular trimmings. Though adding vines can be a tedious job, an added advantage is that you can remove them later if you wish to make a change to a more-permanent covering.

Lattice Trellis

Anchor lattice panels to the brick wall to create a trellis for climbing plants. Insert spacers between the panels and wall, and train climbing vines such as honeysuckle or trumpet vines up the trellis. These flowering perennials will provide seasonal coverage, hiding your brick wall more as they grow and cover the trellis, and the trellis itself provides partial coverage of your wall year-round when the vines aren't present. Paint the lattice a color that matches your home or other surrounding architecture to blend it seamlessly into the landscape.

Shrubs

Planting large evergreen shrubs in front of your brick wall will successfully hide it from view year-round once they reach their mature height and width. Opting for shrubs that flower or produce berries adds additional color and visual interest to the landscape while softening the hard lines of the architecture. Choose shrubs with neat, upright growth habits for formal landscapes, or less-uniform options for casual settings. Using several shrub types and staggering them when planting creates additional visual interest while hiding the wall.

Stucco

To transform your brick wall completely, apply a stucco finish to the surface. The stucco will create a new, even surface, hiding the bricks and the grout spaces between them. You can create interesting textures in the stucco material when applying the finish coat. Available in a wide array of standard colors, along with the option of custom color matching from some manufacturers, you can easily match the stucco to other architectural features on your property.